'SGPC should clarify on expenditure in '84 cases'

The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) on Friday demanded from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to clarify that how much money the SGPC has so far spent on the legal cases related to the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

In a statement here, AISSF president Karnail Singh Peermohammad demanded the release of complete details of Rs 42 lakh and Rs 32 lakh, totalling to Rs 74 lakh, as legal fees paid to a panel of five lawyers, as said to have been recommended by HS Phoolka.

He also urged Phoolka, besides the Shiromani Akali Dal, to clear the air on the issue.

Peermohammad pointed out that Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US-based organisation of Sikhs, had also pursued one of the cases that pertained to the accusations against Jagdish Tytler for organising the killings in which the CBI had filed the closure report in favour of the Congress leader in 2007.

The AISSF chief stated that the SFJ had then hired Supreme Court advocates Navkiran Singh, Rebecca John, Vrinda Grover and Kamna Vohra to counter the CBI. "The role of SGPC-funded lawyers recommended by Phoolka in the case of Sajjan Kumar to assist the CBI is also doubtful," he added.